Pride in One's Self
by Eternal Hope is My Company
Summary: Vergil finds one of Nero's Devil Bringers and it leads to a brief moment of bonding. Spoiler: Post DMC5 with presumed return of Vergil and Dante from Hell at some point in the future.


Vergil raised the strange contraption a bit into the air. Not even exposing it to lighting better gave away much of its mysteries. He knew its shape mimicked an arm. But, unlike the flesh and bone of a normal arm, this piece of equipment was made from metal and painted in blue, silver, and gold. He sensed it wasn't ordinary metal though. Just a faint sense of the demonic came off it. No human would be able to sense it, but he was no mere human.

He waved the arm about and watched the hand flap back and forth. It copied the movements of a hand well enough he guessed. Carefully, he gripped the fingers and stretched them out until they were straight before bending them back towards the palm of the hand. If he was more a fan of mechanics, he might have found himself impressed. Instead, he shrugged at how…human like it was. Almost not worth his time really.

However, he recalled Nero using this arm and others as well. Well, more like he as V remembered Nero's Devil Breakers. When he and Nero fought on "top" of the Qliphoth, Nero had a human arm again. The arm hadn't regrown into the same demonic appearance as it had when he cut it off. What vague memories he had as Urizen had an image of Nero fighting him with a stomp of an arm and more incidences with these fragile fake arms.

He had none personally. Some part of him wanted to see the power of Nico's creations for himself. There were still hints of faint admiration for the human for making powerful weapons from demons. He was reminded of Machiavelli. How would they hold up against him in battle? Would Yamato easily slash through the arms, breaking them apart into bits? Did they have enough resistance to the demonic metal of his katana to withstand the damage? His mind couldn't help but ponder.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Nero's voice cut through his mental trance.

He looked over his shoulder to see his…son. "I was examining what Nico called the Overture. You never did say their names to me." He lowered the arm and placed it back on the table. "They are…different up close."

Vergil heard Nero approach and he saw the younger man standing beside him, but not close. A distance that he easily noticed was directed at just him and not anyone else.

"Right…is there a reason you doing that though?" Nero picked the arm off the table and latched it onto his waist.

He noticed then that Nero kept spare Devil Breakers on his person. "Does that mean you are still able to use them?" He raised an eyebrow. "How can you with your arm back?"

Nero blinked before shrugging and raising his arm up. "Like this."

Vergil watched Nero lift Overture and his eyes widened when the flesh arm disappeared. No, not exactly gone. He noticed faint blue outlines where the arm once was. It was as if Nero typed into his own spiritual essence to recreate his arm. But at will, he could dissolve it and allow himself to attach the Devil Breakers no problem.

"Fascinating." His fingers brushed across the metal of the arm to where the metal met Nero's elbow. He noticed the locking mechanism reappeared the moment Nero had attached Overture. "Some magic?"

"Oh yeah. Can't really explain it. Just apparently can make it reappear and disappear now." Nero shrugged while looking down at his now metal arm. "Comes in handy for when I need some variety to my style."

Vergil nodded slowly. "I see." He lowered his hand and looked at Nero. "Does that mean you use them often?"

Nero glanced between Vergil and the arm. "Yeah, I guess I do. Maybe I really got too used to not having a normal arm." He gripped his metal hand with his human one. "I mean don't get me wrong. Being able to go around without people staring at me like I'm some freak is nice. But I noticed my whole combat style had become centered around me having an inhuman arm you know?" He dared to look Vergil in the eye. "So, it's nice not having to heavily change things up."

Something about Nero's statement caused his chest to hurt. Vergil dared to place his hand on Nero's shoulder. "You are no freak. You are the grandson of Sparda, and you…," he swallowed slightly ",…saved the world and your family more than once. That is something to be proud of."

Nero's eyes widened slightly. "Vergil?"

Vergil forced his body to still. He would not tremble nor look away from his flesh and blood. "You have many people proud of you for who you are and what you have done. You just are not seeing it for yourself." He removed his hand from Nero's shoulder and sighed softly. "It would make you a better man to notice such from now on."

"…Right." Nero swallowed while focusing on his feet now. "So, uh…were you wanting to give the arms a try or something?" He quickly tried to change the subject.

Vergil shifted his gaze between him and the door to the van. "If you don't mind me breaking more than one of your arms more than likely." He smirked faintly. "I would not mind testing them in battle for myself."

Nero grinned a bit. "Oh, that's right. I think you did mention us needing to rematch. I'm still going to kick your ass, old man."

Vergil barely kept his expression composed. His chest warmed slightly. "You should expect to lose this time since I am at full power and haven't been fighting all day let alone dueling with your uncle."

Nero laughed as he headed out of the van. "Yeah yeah. Keep talking and I'm going to think that's all you are. All bark and no bite."

He scowled briefly and faintly. "I shall prove you wrong on that."

As he stepped out of the van, he noticed Nero talking with Dante. It seemed his younger brother must have sensed the coming duel or Dante just had interesting timing. Honestly, it was probably a mixture of both.

The warmth inside him cooled at seeing Nero standing close enough to Dante for his brother to give Nero a friendly hug and hair ruffle. He reigned back the fire burning inside and the desire to slit Dante's throat. His brother had been there for his son more than he himself had been, circumstances withstanding. Nero had shown his care for him by sparing his life that day when he as Urizen tried to end the world. He had to remind himself for all he had done to his son, their awkward interactions were good enough.

And seeing Nero grin and elbow Dante in the side for whatever his brother said made Vergil give a hint of a smile. Because where he had failed his family, Nero hadn't and for that he couldn't be more proud.


End file.
